Woman gets 30 years in prison for Lincoln County traffic death

Kim Morava

Thursday

Aug 9, 2018 at 4:10 PM

A Midwest City woman charged with manslaughter in a fatal Lincoln County crash that occurred at the start of the Memorial Day weekend last year has been sentenced to serve a total of 30 years in prison, court records show.

A Midwest City woman charged with manslaughter in a fatal Lincoln County crash that occurred at the start of the Memorial Day weekend last year has been sentenced to serve a total of 30 years in prison, court records show.

Deneisha Lowery, 30, was charged in Lincoln County District Court with first-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence, causing great bodily injury.

Lowery was arrested by state troopers following that deadly crash in 2017.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol released information indicating that on Friday, May 26, 2017, around 4:15 p.m., several dispatch centers in Oklahoma and Lincoln Counties began to receive 911 calls reporting a black Cadillac CTS four door driving erratically on the Turner Turnpike (Interstate 44) traveling from Oklahoma City toward Tulsa.

OHP dispatched troopers from both the east and west sections of the turnpike to intercept the reported erratic driver. Troopers were within a few miles of catching the Cadillac when the driver struck the rear of a 2001 Ford Expedition between mile marker 151 and 152. The impact caused the Ford Expedition to overturn.

The driver of the Ford Expedition, Joseph Michael Blazier, 36, of Oakhurst, was killed, and four passengers were injured including a 29-year-old female from Sand Springs and three children ages 9, 5 and 10 months. The female adult was transported in critical condition to OU Medical Center; the children were admitted to Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City.

Troopers suspected impairment on the driver of the Cadillac, who was identified as Lowery.

Court records show she was charged in July 2017 and she pleaded guilty in June 2018 rather than having her case go to trial. Tuesday, her case went before District Judge Cynthia Ferrell-Ashwood in Chandler for formal sentencing.

In the count of first-degree manslaughter, Lowery received a 25-year prison term. For the DUI count, she was given a 5-year prison sentence, running consecutively, meaning she'll serve the first term, then the second.

She also was ordered to pay fines and $2,000 in restitution.

Lowery remains jailed in the Lincoln County jail until she is transferred to the Department of Corrections.